UK investigators believe a bomb was placed in Metrojet plane's hold

LONDON — UK investigators working to ascertain what caused the Metrojet plane crash on Oct. 31 that killed all 224 on board believe a bomb was placed in the hold, according to reports.

Flights from Sharm el-Sheikh to the UK were suspended Wednesday and Thursday while intelligence officers analysed information based on intercepted communications between militants in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Both Egypt and Russia have said it's too early to draw conclusions as to the cause of the crash, with Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov saying the theories are "unverified information" and "conjectures."

The Russian Metrojet plane crashed in the Sinai peninsula Saturday morning, 23 minutes after taking off from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort, killing all of the mostly Russian passengers on board. It was the deadliest aviation disaster in Russian history.

The cause of the crash wasn't initially clear, but Russian and Egyptian authorities began immediate investigations. Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, but did not specify how they might have brought down the plane.

On Wednesday, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said there was a "significant possibility" the crash was caused by a bomb. The UK immediately suspended flights from Sharm el-Sheikh, pending investigations, and the Irish Airline Authority swiftly followed suit. Several British airlines and holiday operators suspended flights.

British officials haven't ruled out the possibility of a technical fault causing the crash, but think that outcome is unlikely, the BBC reports. The government's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre received intelligence Wednesday. They believe someone placed a bomb in luggage or on top of it in the hold.

The Foreign Office told Mashable they had no comment at this stage. They said in a statement Thursday that David Cameron agreed on a package of additional security measures with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.

The theory has caused a diplomatic issue with Egypt and Russia, Sky News says, with both countries asking to see the intelligence that's led to the new possibility. The UK will share conclusions but not raw material, their correspondent says.

In this Russian Emergency Situations Ministry photo. the Metrojet flight recorder in seen on display at an undisclosed location in Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015.

EasyJet, Monarch, Thomson Airways, British Airways, and Thomas Cook all said they will operate services to the UK.

However, EasyJet has since said that some of the rescue planes it had planned have been suspended by the Egyptian authorities.

Unfortunately the situation in Sharm el-Sheikh is very unclear. Our rescue plans that were put in place yesterday have been suspended by the Egyptian authorities. Discussions are currently on-going at the highest political level to unblock this situation. We are very sorry and understand that this is extremely frustrating for you – unfortunately the situation is outside of easyJet’s control. Please stay or make your way back to the hotel you have been staying in, and be assured we will pick up the cost of this. As soon as we have more information, we will update you via this page and our Flight Tracker.

Update Nov. 6 12:36 p.m. EasyJet say the situation is "fluid" and, while two flights have departed, eight have been cancelled.

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